Oklahoma City Thunder vs. LA Clippers Line at -2.5
Carrie Stroup here with the Oklahoma City Thunder vs. LA Clippers line for January 30, 2012. Get all updated lines here at Sportsbook.com and receive up to $250 in FREE CASH when you open an online betting account (based on initial deposit made).
Sportsbook.com Line & Total: Oklahoma City -2.5 & 199
Opening Line & Total: OKC -2.5 & 197
The red-hot Thunder seek their 12th win in 13 games on Monday night when they visit a confident Clippers team riding high after a big win in Denver on Sunday.
Oklahoma City has feasted on inferior competition during its surge, playing eight straight games against teams that are all currently below .500. The eight opponents have combined for a pathetic 45-114 SU record (.283) this season. The Clippers have been a tremendous home team at 9-2 SU (8-3 ATS), limiting these visitors to 93.0 PPG. And Chris Paul appears to be fully healed from his hamstring injury with 21.5 PPG (5-of-10 threes), 14 assists and just three turnovers in his past two games. Paul is also averaging 2.5 steals per game, and should wreak havoc on Oklahoma City’s turnover-prone PG Russell Westbrook.
The Thunder rank third in the NBA in scoring with 100.4 PPG, but are just 24th in assists (18.6 APG). PG Russell Westbrook averages only 5.8 APG and has turned the ball over seven times in each of his past two games. Despite the mistakes, he still had a great performance in Friday’s win at Golden State with 28 points, 11 assists, seven steals and six rebounds. SF Kevin Durant also had a huge night with a season-high 37 points and 14 boards. But the Oklahoma City star really struggled against L.A. last season, scoring 22.3 PPG on just 36% FG, including 3-of-26 from three-point land. The Thunder dominated the lane against Golden State with 58 points in the paint, while the Warriors had just 28 points in the paint. A repeat performance against the Clippers will be tough though with Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan (3.1 BPG) manning the middle.
The Clippers won both home meetings with Oklahoma City last season, winning by 15 points in November and by six in April. Griffin has really owned the paint in all four lifetime meetings with the Thunder, scoring 26.8 PPG (60% FG) and grabbing 11.8 RPG. He also has 4.3 APG, being able to kick it out when he’s double-teamed. One player Griffin will look to on the perimeter Monday night is Chauncey Billups, who may finally be over his season-long slump after torching Denver on Sunday night. In that game against his former team, Billups doubled his season average with 32 points on 11-of-20 shooting (6-of-12 from three-point land). Billups is actually shooting better from behind the arc (38%) than he is on two-point tries (34%) this season. PG Mo Williams has scored in double-figures in each of the past six games, averaging 20.5 PPG on 57% FG (15-of-27 threes).
- Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter
